{"id":39198,"date":"2026-06-16T15:54:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T13:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/?p=39198"},"modified":"2026-06-16T15:54:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T13:54:46","slug":"us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/","title":{"rendered":"US firm 908 Devices acquires Lausanne narcotics-detection start-up NIRLAB"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/908devices.com\/\">908 Devices<\/a>, a US-based pioneer of handheld devices for chemical analysis, has completed the acquisition of NIRLAB AG, a Lausanne-based start-up specializing in narcotics detection. The transaction comprises an upfront payment of $15 million, in cash and 908 Devices stock, with up to an additional USD 8 million in stock tied to performance milestones over the following 20 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Founded in 2021 as a spin-out of the University of Lausanne (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unil.ch\/unil\/en\/home.html\">UNIL<\/a>), a recognized leader in forensic science, NIRLAB employs 15 people. The company develops AI-powered, cloud-connected near-infrared spectroscopy that performs handheld chemical analysis of narcotics in seconds. Its device enables point-and-click identification of more than 400 common drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamine, through thin plastic bags or glass, and can also quantify drug purity and analyze cannabis, including THC and CBD content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For 908 Devices, the acquisition expands its analytical portfolio beyond trace detection to include rapid, high-volume screening for everyday law enforcement use, combining NIRLAB&#8217;s integrated hardware and cloud subscription platform with its own product range. NIRLAB&#8217;s co-CEOs, Florentin Coppey and Matteo Delbrueck, will help bring the technology to 908 Devices&#8217; global commercial network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>908 Devices, a US-listed maker of handheld chemical analysis devices, has acquired NIRLAB, a University of Lausanne spin-out developing AI-powered narcotics detection, for an upfront USD 15 million plus up to USD 8 million in performance-based consideration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":39199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[839],"tags":[893,918,898,886,892],"class_list":["post-39198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-en","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-investment","tag-optics","tag-rd","tag-sensors"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>908 Devices acquires Lausanne&#039;s NIRLAB | GGBa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"908 Devices has acquired NIRLAB, a University of Lausanne spin-out specializing in handheld narcotics detection, for up to USD 23 million.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"908 Devices acquires Lausanne&#039;s NIRLAB | GGBa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"908 Devices has acquired NIRLAB, a University of Lausanne spin-out specializing in handheld narcotics detection, for up to USD 23 million.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Greater Geneva Bern area\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T13:54:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T13:54:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nirlab-Drug-Detection-Device-1180x811-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1180\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"811\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pierre-Yves Oehrli\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pierre-Yves Oehrli\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Pierre-Yves Oehrli\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0b2e6d04131e3d01237dcb741fa33d41\"},\"headline\":\"US firm 908 Devices acquires Lausanne narcotics-detection start-up NIRLAB\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T13:54:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-16T13:54:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/\"},\"wordCount\":185,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nirlab-Drug-Detection-Device-1180x811-1.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Artificial Intelligence\",\"Investment\",\"Optics\",\"R&amp;D\",\"Sensors\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Tech\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/\",\"name\":\"908 Devices acquires Lausanne's NIRLAB | GGBa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nirlab-Drug-Detection-Device-1180x811-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T13:54:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-16T13:54:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0b2e6d04131e3d01237dcb741fa33d41\"},\"description\":\"908 Devices has acquired NIRLAB, a University of Lausanne spin-out specializing in handheld narcotics detection, for up to USD 23 million.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nirlab-Drug-Detection-Device-1180x811-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nirlab-Drug-Detection-Device-1180x811-1.png\",\"width\":1180,\"height\":811,\"caption\":\"NIRLAB's handheld device uses near-infrared spectroscopy to identify narcotics in seconds. The Lausanne start-up has been acquired by US-listed 908 Devices. | \u00a9 NIRLAB\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US firm 908 Devices acquires Lausanne narcotics-detection start-up NIRLAB\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Greater Geneva Bern area\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0b2e6d04131e3d01237dcb741fa33d41\",\"name\":\"Pierre-Yves Oehrli\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/author\/pierre-yves-oehrli\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"908 Devices acquires Lausanne's NIRLAB | GGBa","description":"908 Devices has acquired NIRLAB, a University of Lausanne spin-out specializing in handheld narcotics detection, for up to USD 23 million.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"908 Devices acquires Lausanne's NIRLAB | GGBa","og_description":"908 Devices has acquired NIRLAB, a University of Lausanne spin-out specializing in handheld narcotics detection, for up to USD 23 million.","og_url":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/","og_site_name":"Greater Geneva Bern area","article_published_time":"2026-06-16T13:54:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-16T13:54:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1180,"height":811,"url":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nirlab-Drug-Detection-Device-1180x811-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Pierre-Yves Oehrli","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Pierre-Yves Oehrli","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/"},"author":{"name":"Pierre-Yves Oehrli","@id":"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0b2e6d04131e3d01237dcb741fa33d41"},"headline":"US firm 908 Devices acquires Lausanne narcotics-detection start-up NIRLAB","datePublished":"2026-06-16T13:54:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-16T13:54:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/"},"wordCount":185,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nirlab-Drug-Detection-Device-1180x811-1.png","keywords":["Artificial Intelligence","Investment","Optics","R&amp;D","Sensors"],"articleSection":["Tech"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/","url":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/","name":"908 Devices acquires Lausanne's NIRLAB | GGBa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nirlab-Drug-Detection-Device-1180x811-1.png","datePublished":"2026-06-16T13:54:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-16T13:54:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0b2e6d04131e3d01237dcb741fa33d41"},"description":"908 Devices has acquired NIRLAB, a University of Lausanne spin-out specializing in handheld narcotics detection, for up to USD 23 million.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nirlab-Drug-Detection-Device-1180x811-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Nirlab-Drug-Detection-Device-1180x811-1.png","width":1180,"height":811,"caption":"NIRLAB's handheld device uses near-infrared spectroscopy to identify narcotics in seconds. The Lausanne start-up has been acquired by US-listed 908 Devices. | \u00a9 NIRLAB"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/us-firm-908-devices-acquires-lausanne-narcotics-detection-start-up-nirlab\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US firm 908 Devices acquires Lausanne narcotics-detection start-up NIRLAB"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/","name":"Greater Geneva Bern area","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.ggba.swiss\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0b2e6d04131e3d01237dcb741fa33d41","name":"Pierre-Yves Oehrli","url":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/author\/pierre-yves-oehrli\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39202,"href":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39198\/revisions\/39202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}